Question

Assalaamu Alaikum

I wanted to find out if working for or owning a Recruitment agency is allowed? The main responsibility or role is to 1. find halal clients/companies who are looking for employees ie security company or bus driving etc doing halal work 2. Find employees for the client/companies. They could be looking for temp / permanent / contract work. For each of these the fee structure could be different.

For Temp employees the clients/companies could be charged a percentage of the employees first annual salary or on hourly basis (example if the employee is paid £8 per hour, the agency could charge the client/companies £13 so they will keep £5 per hour themselves until the employee leaves.
For permanent employees the client/companies could be charged an agreed amount or agreed percentage one off.

Theres also more to it. I have found a few articles which you could go through. Please check if it’s a halal source of income as theres a potential to make good money.

JazakAllah Khair
Wasalaam

Answer

A recruitment agency can work under the framework of a hire (‘ijarah) agreement. The employer will pay the recruitment agency a fee for their services which includes finding and providing an employee. The recruitment agency then has a separate agreement with the worker and pays them for the work they are carrying out, usually an amount less than the employer is paying to the agency. This type of arrangement in general would be permissible as the services of the recruitment agency are being hired. However, one would need to ensure that they have not incorporated any unlawful terms and conditions within the contract.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel